Arch for the electrification of railways



April 7, 1925. 1,532,278

. N. UHRY ARCH FOR 'rma ELBCTRIFIQATION or m nwns Fife d Aug. 25, 1933 iNvE -ron ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 7, 1925.

NELSON UHRY, or rams, rnAncnjnssienon'ro socrnrr. nns cnANDsnnsnAnx ToaZL-whom-z'tmay ooncewwl 2. v;..-;

Be it known that I, NELSON UHirY, engineer, citizen= of the French Republic, residing at Paris, Department of the Seine, in France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in an Arch for the Electrification of Railways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains, to make and use the same. V i

The present invention relates to an arch of novel construction intended for supporting the overhead conductors as well as the supply mains on electrical railways.

The different kinds of wires, cables, etc.

., which have to be supported 111 such electrical installations may be enumerated as follows:

1. The overhead conductors.

2. The cables for supplying electric energy, commonly called feeders.

3. If necessary, high tension feeders, or

conductors for transmission of power, either for traction or any other purpose.

4:. The conductors usually required for the working of railways, such as signal wires, telegraph wires, teleplhone wires, wires for distant control, as we 1 as the government telegraph and telephone wires.

In order to comply with the exigences of the service, a great number of such supports are required, and even the smallest saving which may be brought about by a new de: vice may lead to considerable economy in the cost of electrifying railway lines.

'The supports ordinarily employed are metal masts of various shapes, reinforced concrete masts andarches spanning the railway lines.

These arches are usually constructed of two different kinds, for example with vertical posts either guyed or not, connected by yielding or rigid crossties, or with two pillars dove-tailed at the top to a horizontal beam, which connects them and spans the rails.

The first mentioned kind has the drawback of requiring large foundation blocks, especially in view of the large size of the conductors, which have to be used on main Application'filedAugust-'25, 1923. Serial No. 659,316;

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lines of standard gauge, worked with continuous current at 1500 volts.

; The second kind, it is true, allow of the almost complete omission of foundation blocks, but have the drawback of having above the track a girder built up of light iron sections or of small thickness, which constitutes a serious drawback for upkeep and durability, especially on lines which of necessity have to carry mixed trafiic for a time.

The arch, which is the subject of the present invention, is of an entirely novel kind, which might be utilized in similar cases of electric transmission of power.

It has all the advantages of self supporting arches and may be made of members requiring very little working, whilst its shape enables it to carry easily all the conductors necessary for the installation.

The accompanying drawing, which is merely diagrammatic, will make it easy to understand in what way the invention may be carried out in practice.

As clearly shown in the drawing, the arch according to the resent invention consists of a frame of ogival shape, constituted by two bent members AA symmetrically located. Like all frames of this kind, it may of course be made without joints like the example shown in the drawing, or with one or three joints as desired. These arches may naturally be made of any materials, but section iron is very suitable. For example either latticed girders or bent section iron of any kind may be used or standard beams or with webs.

-VVith regard to the use of section iron the following remarks may be made The reduction of the bending moment in consequence of the shape chosen, renders it possible to obtain with beams, arches which have a weight comparable with the weight of latticed arches as now used and consequently more economical. They have moreover the advantage over the latter of being built up of members of such thickness that in case or" mixed working, electric and steam, they will last almost indefinitely, and will require only very slight up-keep.

On the other hand, the working stress of the constituent beams of such arch of sec tion iron may be considerably higher than that of the constituent members ot a lattice arch and may even reach the elastic limit without exceeding it,

The longitudinal stability of the arch may he obtained in any way, by guys or struts t ec ss ry- The advantages which, are. obtained by, adopting this shape of arch are the to lowing s 1. Like any self-supporting arch the size o't' the foundation blocks. redweed;

2. This arrangement reduces considerably the maximum bending moment.

3. The huttressing oi? the bent members at the topjgreatly facilitates the erection of the arch and readily lends itself to the fixing of one or more high tension conductors at the upper part.

4- l i de e r der it p s ible to tain all the conditions realized by the. above mentioned types with a minimum of mania Qlei e A structure for supporting overhead eondu etoigs oo nprisinga; relatively light metal frame having vertical legs and inwardly curyed uppen sections united at their ends forming an ogive or gothio arch.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

NELSON UHRY. 

